The Long Road Home
by Pann
Summary: What will happen when Willow decides to go away for university after graduation?
1. The Arrival

She stepped off the plane into the damp cool air of the London   
  
international airport. She slowly gazed around at the large bustling   
  
building. She had rarely been anywhere larger than Sunnydale, and this  
  
one room of the airport seemed to have more people in it than she had   
  
seen in the whole of her life. It would certainly take some time to   
  
get used to the crowds.  
  
"Excuse me miss, but other people would like to get off the   
  
plane!" cried a short balding man as he pushed passed her.  
  
"I-I'm sorry..." she said feebly as she watched him disappear   
  
into the crowd. She gazed around hoping to find some direction of where she could find her baggage. Deciding she should just follow the people from her plane, she stepped back into the steady stream of people.   
  
By the time she had arrived at the luggage terminal she had   
  
not only stepped on numerous heels and received annoyed glances, but   
  
had tripped on some kid crawling on the floor and caused a domino   
  
effect on all of the people in front of her. When she finally arrived  
  
at the baggage room she sat on one of the uncomfortable chairs   
  
surrounding the bags and waited for hers to come by... and waited... and waited. Finally there was only her and an old woman dressed all in purple, and frankly looked as though she was sleeping. Staring desperately at the rotating luggage carousel as it went around twice more, still not yielding her luggage.  
  
"Cripes," she muttered as she stood up, "You have helped save   
  
the world how many times, and yet they still lose your luggage?"  
  
Walking slowly towards the doors leading outside she felt   
  
tears well up in her eyes. It was just all too over whelming.   
  
Pushing through the door she waved for a taxi. Sliding inside the   
  
first one that came along she slammed the door and leaned her head   
  
against the cheap vinyl seat.  
  
"Where would you like to go?" Asked the aged man with a   
  
strong British accent.  
  
"Oxford University..." Said the girl slowly.  
  
"Oh dear, you look like your best friend just died. It mustn't   
  
be that bad. What's your name?" He asked sweetly.  
  
"Willow." She Said 


	2. The Class

After finding her room in the dormatories Willow arranged the few belongings that had come   
  
with her on the plane throughout the room. She waited anxiously, glancing at the empty bed on the   
  
other side of the room. She hoped that her room mate was relatively nice, not like the horror stories she  
  
had heard otherpeople say about their college experience.  
  
Suddenly, someone burst through the door, making Willow jump.  
  
"Hey," said the thin girl in a rain jacket gesturing to her pile of bags in the hall."Would you   
  
mind giving me a hand with these?"  
  
"Sure." Said Willow moving into the hall and grabbing two large suitcases. Seeing them made  
  
her wish even more that hers had made the trip with her. She had emailed the airline letting them know  
  
where she was so they could foreward her things here, but who knew how long that would take. "i'm Willow  
  
by the way.  
  
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Rosaline." Replied the girl in an Irish accent.  
  
When they had finished moving all the suitcases in they both sat down on their beds studying  
  
eachother.  
  
"So where is all of your stuff?" questioned Rosaline as she shifted uncomfortably in her seat.  
  
"It was lost on my flight here, but it should be coming soon enough." Replied Willow as she  
  
gazed intensely at Rosaline. She had dull brown hair and eyes, but her clothes were bright and full of  
  
color. With her red capris and black tank top with a big sunflower on the front she looked as though she  
  
was a very friendly person, and judging by the small amount of conversation that had gone on during the  
  
luggage movement Willow thought she really seemed as though she were. This won't be half as bad as   
  
it's supposed to be, thought Willow.  
  
" I would be pretty damn mad if that was me." Replied Rosaline, making Willow smile.  
  
"Well I am pretty damn mad" Laughed Willow.  
  
No, thought Willow, this isn't going to be hard at all  
  
  
  
**********  
  
"Please take your seats class" Cried Professor McRitchen, as Willow's first class began. She   
  
quivered with excitement as she opened her brand new Macintosh laptop and opened here pre-made file  
  
labeled Psychology.  
  
"Class, This year i plan to introduce you to many concepts, of which, few are provable. Now  
  
this class requires an open mind, but also a sharp one. It isn't for everybody and anyone who fails the first  
  
semester will be asked to switch to another, perhaps easier, science course. Perhaps geology will be more  
  
up your alley. But unil then I am Professor McRitchen. You shall refer to me as Mr. McRitchen, or simply  
  
Professor. Now in the beginning of my classes i like to warm my students up with a little verbal quiz on   
  
the required reading of the day before. Since this is the first class I shall just use a few of the simpler  
  
theories I believe some of you may know."  
  
Willow once again quivered in excitement, ready to bring her mind up to speed after a long summer  
  
of misuse.  
  
"To begin I'd like you to tell me the names of the founders of the following psychological theories.  
  
Lets start with the Adult Learning Theory. Anyone"  
  
Willows eyes went wide as she realized she knew the anwer. Just as she was about to say it a  
  
dark haired boy in the front row yelled out "P. Cross"  
  
"Good" said the teacher, obviously impressed by the speed at which the answer had been given.  
  
" How about the Elaboration Theory?"  
  
"C. Reigeluth" Cried the dark haired boy quickly. Willow could see that he was obviously very  
  
smart, but then she was no witless idiot. She licked her lips in anticipation for the next question.  
  
" Anchored Instruction?" Cried the professor looking at the blank faces of many of the students.  
  
" The CTGV" Cried the brown haired boy, once again victorious.  
  
" And J. Bransford" Said Willow calmly. Both the teacher and the dark haired boy looked back  
  
astoundedly.  
  
"Excellent!" Cried the teacher,"I was hoping someone would catch that. But lets not stop while   
  
we are on a role!! The Mathematical Learning Theory"  
  
"R.C. Atkinson" Cried Willow.  
  
"Social Learning Theory" Shouted the teacher.  
  
"A. Bandura!" said the dark haired boy quickly.  
  
"Structure of Intellect" Wailed the teacher.  
  
"J. Guilford" cried Willow slamming her laptop closed and wincing as she did, hoping it hadn't   
  
been broken.  
  
"The Gestalt Theory" Cried the professor as his ears turned beat red in delight.  
  
"M. Wertheimer!!" Screamed both Willow and the dark hairded boy as the bell rang ending  
  
the hour and telling the students it was time to leave.   
  
Willow stayed seated as the rows filtered out packing her things in her bag she had bought at   
  
a small store on campus. She glanced around for the dark haired boy as she stood up but he appearently  
  
had left with the crowd. As she exited the large classroom she saw the dark haired boy standing right   
  
outside the room.  
  
"Hey," he said," my name is Darren"  
  
"Willow." she replied. "It was nice to see that someone else had done a little preperation for the  
  
class"  
  
"Yeah no kidding." He said with a sweet British accent,"I come from this little hick town so I am  
  
not really used to having much competition."  
  
"Really? Me too. So what class do you have next? I have math."  
  
"Me too, I guess we can walk together." Said Darren sweetly.  
  
"Sure." Said Willow as she smiled to herself. Math is my best subject, thought Willow, He had  
  
better be ready to be put in his place. They walked together to the Math Lab both looking forward to   
  
testing their newfound competition. 


End file.
